//------------------------------// // Welcoming Party // Story: Titles and Value // by Wages of Sin //------------------------------// Luna was waiting at the station with a company of her guard. Twilight was first off to see the welcoming committee. "Princ-" and one leg past the train doors was as far as she got before she was tackled by a half dozen of Luna's bat-winged guard, with unicorns throwing shields over seemingly everything. They held her down, each large stallion securing a limb while two tried to secure her head. She could see they were going for her horn. She screamed. The sound of their friends cries woke the five mares and dragon from their slack-jawed stupor. "We're coming Twi!" Applejack called as she lunged into the fray. The five were not trained fighters, but they had managed to hold off hundreds of changelings while advancing through their lines in the past, so trained or not, they were appallingly effective at dispatching the guard currently occupied with holding Twilight. When Twilight was no longer covered in guards, she looked to the pile that used to be said guards, pulling out what Twilight recognized as what they were attempting to put on her horn. "An inhibitor ring!?!" she glanced back to the now just-shy-of-cowering-while-not-breaking-formation of forces lead by Luna. "Twilight calm down! You don't want to do this!" Luna's voice was quiet, almost conveying sympathy, but was more urgent, almost fearful. "What? What's going on!" Twilight yelled, lighting her horn. Luna flared her wings, glancing back at her soldiers before giving a nod. Twilight braced, ready for the onslaught, but instead the soldiers ran screaming. Twilight's horn died down a little bit in awe. "Twilight please! We know how you feel, but you don't have to do this!" Luna pleaded. The rest of Twilight's magic died down as she looked upon Luna's pained face. "Do what? What's going on?" she asked. "You don't know? Oh, then we have..." she fell silent, "Twilight, I know I do not deserve it, but do you trust me?" Twilight frowned in confusion. "After you just had your guard jump me?" "We art sorry, but we thought you..." Twilight could see Luna was struggling, but she saw no malice in her eyes. "Luna, last nightmare night I called you my friend, and if for that alone, I trust you. Now tell me what is going on." Luna looked a little relieved, even happy, before it died in an instant. "Twilight, we must request, Neigh, order you as Princess of Equestria to put on the inhibitor ring." Twilight eyed up the ring, then eyed up Luna again before slipping it over her horn. Luna calmed down a little more, having the anxiety turn to sadness. "Twilight Sparkle, we regret to inform you that your father has- has passed." Luna said looking away. "I know, so what's the big deal? What's so important that you brought a small army and made me wear an inhibitor ring? Is Chrysalis back! Did you think she was disguised as me? Would an inhibitor even disrupt changeling magic?" "Twilight, I just told you your father has died!" "That's hardly a concern at the moment, now tell me what the threat is! ...um, if you may, princess." Luna stood looking at Twilight with an expression of confusion, Twilight stared back expectantly. "You... Um... Well, that's it." Luna stuttered. "What do you mean that's it?" "Well, that is why we needed all this" Luna said with fading conviction. "I don't understand how this is related to the death of my father." Luna's expression became unreadable as she began to explain the situation. "Celestia went to inform you of the news personally, but when she arrived, she sent word back that you were not there. We assumed the worst- that you had already had gotten news of your father's passing and were coming to Canterlot." "I don't understand, why did she go to deliver the news personally, and why is my arrival met with being body tackled by the Lunar guard?" Luna looked away sheepishly, "There are stories... stories that sister has privately confirmed to be true, that you have previously taken bad news very adversely. Celestia went to tell you in person, we assume to contain you if things went wrong, but as you had left, we thought you may have come to Canterlot for revenge." "Revenge! Did you-!" "No! Of course not! He died of a heart attack brought on by general bad health. His sickness of the body caused his passing." Twilight mentally confirmed that this made sense with how she knew his habits to be. "But that doesn't explain the nice 'welcoming' from your guards. Did you expect me to just go on a rampage?" Twilight joked, until she saw the look on Luna's face. "You did!" Twilight said with shock. "There are stories- Legends! Of your reactions to bad news! Celestia has many a time told of how you enchanted a doll to ensnare the city that mocked your tardiness. Or when you were about to be told you had failed an exam and not only held the proctors in your magic, but transformed ponies into plants and summoned a dragon of great size to destroy the castle! "We were concerned the news of your father's passing was going to send you into a rage or some-such possibility." Twilight gawked at the Lunar Princess. "Wow, Celestia may have overstated those cases a little bit." "But sister fully expected you to be devastated by this news!" "No offense, but that's simply not the case." "Um... Why?" Luna asked, "You seem... Almost indifferent..." "Well it's not like I wasn't upset when I heard, but you try staying upset a bout the loss of someone who you didn't really know. I mean really, we hadn't seen or even written each other since... I think since I was accepted as Celestia's student. No contact in Ten years! Even as a filly I never really saw him much, so it doesn't really have a big impact on me now that he's gone." "That's..." Luna began. "-the truth princess, only the truth. So what is going to happen now?" "Well," Luna began, ""I am not very versed in the ways of this era, but I believe that it is still customary for family members to have roles at the funerals of loved ones. In fact, I believe that we both have obligations at the funeral." She turned her head from Twilight "Or at least that is what was implied by Celestia's cryptic message to me." "Cryptic message?" Twilight asked. "She has been behaving strangely since she became aware of his passing." A hint of sadness tinged Luna's words as she grew pensive. "She seems worried..." Luna eyes grew wide, looking back at Twilight. "But don't worry, I'm sure she's just concerned about her student!" "Princess, are you... uh... never mind." Twilight looked away. "So, princess, when is the funeral? Has a date been set?" Luna's wings flared as she looked to Twilight, fear in her eyes. "That's why she went to Ponyville to get you! It's today! She wanted to bring you with a chariot because the train wouldn't be fast enough to-" she glanced at the train station's central clock tower. "We must leave now!" ------------------------------------- The few guards that had not yet fled Canterlot made their way back to the train station just in time to be knocked in the face by the massive station doors as Luna raced away closely followed by the elements of harmony. "Captain! What was that!" one of the two lieutenants to remain yelled once they regained their footing. "That was our princess being chased by the Elements of Harmony." the captain said grimly looking at his two remaining troops. The lieutenant was aghast. "We need to help her!" "You think the three of us can do anything to stop them? Good luck! I'm going through with the contingency plan. If you wish to remain, I will not hold it against you, but please be safe." The captain took off and began making his way out of Canterlot, leaving his lieutenants on the street. The inquisitive guard looked to his female associate "What do you want to do?" She gave no response as she began trotting in the direction of the fleeing princess. "Wait up!"